Activists in India were disappointed after British Prime Minister David Cameron hinted that it was okay for Dow Chemical to be a sponsor of the upcoming London Olympics.

“It is very sad that Mr. Cameron has not taken the time to research the legal responsibility of Dow Chemical,” said Rachna Dhingra, a member of Bhopal Group for Information and Action, a non-profit organization fighting for the rights of the victims of the 1984 disaster. Thousands of people died, either immediately or later, and many more were injured when gas leaked from the Bhopal plant owned by a subsidiary of Union Carbide. Dow Chemical agreed to buy Union Carbide 15 years after the tragedy.

In his interview with television channel CNN-IBN, which took place in London and touched on a range of topics including a recent multibillion dollar fighter jet deal, Mr. Cameron said he understood why there was anger about Bhopal, but noted that the matter of sponsorship was down to the International Olympic Committee.

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“I can remember as a young man reading about that… and being profoundly shocked by what happened… [But] it is their [IOC] decision making process. That is the case. And I don’t criticize their decision making process,” he said.

“I am wanting to see the Olympics not used for industrial or political or other purposes… I cannot see a problem with the IOC being sponsored by Dow. I think it followed perfectly reasonable processes,” he added.

Activists fighting for the victims, however, think otherwise.

“There is enough evidence that Dow Chemical was legally responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy,” Ms. Dhingra told India Real Time, adding that the involvement of Dow would “violate the spirit of Indian Olympics.”

She also blamed the Indian government for not taking bold steps. “A letter is not going to help,” she said, referring to the letters sent by India’s sports ministry and the Indian Olympic Association to the International Olympic Committee. Ms. Dhingra said that if Dow remained the sponsor, “the athletes should boycott the games.”

India Sports Ministry spokesman Rajesh Malhotra didn’t say what the government plans to do following Mr. Cameron’s comments. “I haven’t met with the British prime minister yet for this issue,” he told India Real Time.

In a recent television interview, India’s Sports Minister Ajay Maken refused to give a clear answer on whether India would boycott the Olympics if Dow’s sponsorship wasn’t revoked. He said that the government would take a decision keeping in “mind the sensitivity of people of Bhopal as well as the players who are preparing hard for the Olympics.”

Meanwhile, activists plan to intensify their protests against Dow Chemical.

Nawab Khan, head of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha [Bhopal Gas Tragedy Women Men Struggle Campaign], a non-profit organization working for the welfare of victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, said the group plans to hold protests in London next month. Mr. Khan said that his organization has the support of 21 former Indian athletes, including hockey players Jalaluddin Rizvi, Aslam Sher Khan and Mir Ranjan Negi.

He also said India should boycott the Olympics “if the tainted company remained as the sponsor.”

Mr. Rizvi, a former hockey player who represented India in the 1984 Olympics, told India Real Time that boycotting the Games would be “a huge loss to the players.”

“Why can’t they find another sponsor?” Mr. Rizvi asked. “It is very sad that the company which has done so much damage to our country is sponsoring the London Olympics.”

But simply finding another sponsor is easier said than done, especially one as big as Dow, which is providing $100 million for the upcoming London Olympics.

Indian hockey player Tushar Khandekar said he hadn’t been officially contacted by authorities seeking his opinion on the sponsorship issue. “We are going for the Olympics for sure,” he told India Real Time. He was, however, in favor of showing his support to Bhopal victims by wearing a black band during the Games.

Khandekar was born in 1985, a year after the Bhopal disaster, and is one of the senior players in the national side. He said almost all his teammates are young and didn’t know much about the gas tragedy.

Last December, a Dow spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that, “Dow never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal,” and denied any responsibility for additional compensation which the Indian government had sought. The IOC maintains that the plant was owned by Madhya Pradesh state government.

In an email Monday, the IOC confirmed that it “does not intend to change Dow’s sponsorship status,” adding, that the Committee “only enters into partnerships with organisations that it believes work in accordance with the values of the Olympic Movement.”

It added that Dow had “supported the Olympic Movement for over 30 years, providing financial support and bringing industry-leading expertise and innovation to the Games,” and the company “never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal.”

The Indian Olympic Association, an autonomous body, has stated that it would “press for total removal of Dow Chemical as sponsor of London Olympics,” but denied any boycott of the Games. The association was not available for comment on the latest developments.

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.